I have my grandmother's hand operated grinder. I use it for chutneys, cranberry relish, and grinding meat. I don't think the effort is too great using it; in fact, I find it therapeutic. I have a KA mixer, but no desire for the grinder attachment. Coincidentally, I met a woman at the local butcher shop, and had a discussion about this very thing. She was buying meat for homemade kielbasa, and the butcher asked if she wanted it ground in the store. Turns out that she can't get the right texture from an electric grinder--she has resigned herself to cranking through many pounds of meat to get it right. Sometimes TNT is the way to go.

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"To be broke is not a disgrace, it is only a catastrophe." -- Nero Wolfe/Rex Stout

Hey Corey. That's one of the few things for which I'd say a food processor does a decent job. If you've worked out a technique with which you're happy, you may not have enough need for the attachment to justify the space it takes to store. Whereas, if you wanna do sausage, IMHO, you need a grinder.

Bullseye, I'm curious. Did the woman you met say why her electric grinder wasn't working for her? Mind you, I prefer the hand-cranked grinder, but started with a standalone electric that I thought was adequate for most purposes.

Hey Corey. That's one of the few things for which I'd say a food processor does a decent job. If you've worked out a technique with which you're happy, you may not have enough need for the attachment to justify the space it takes to store. Whereas, if you wanna do sausage, IMHO, you need a grinder.

Bullseye, I'm curious. Did the woman you met say why her electric grinder wasn't working for her? Mind you, I prefer the hand-cranked grinder, but started with a standalone electric that I thought was adequate for most purposes.

I think I've tried using the food processor before, and got mixed feelings about it. But I'll try it again soon.

Well, I interpreted the OP to say you were satisfied with the FP for the things you've been doing so far. If you have mixed feelings about even that, you probably should get the grinder attachment after all. Would give you a more consistent product and less work (even counting cleaning the darned thing). And, who knows, if you have the attachment, maybe you'll dabble in sausage (can form into big patties like burgers, you know, no need to stuff in casings) and the other things mentioned above (relishes, etc.).